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Indicator Function


The indicator function of a subset A of a set X is the function 1_A:X->{0,1} defined by

 1_A(x)={1   for x in A; 0   for x not in A .
(1)

Thus an indicator function records membership in A by the values 1 and 0. It is also called the characteristic function of A and is sometimes written using an Iverson bracket.


See also

Characteristic Function, Iverson Bracket, Subset

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Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Indicator Function." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/IndicatorFunction.html

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